The Flying Meatballs: The Frozen Meatballs My Family Actually Enjoyed (and will buy again!)

As an Italian-American girl from New Jersey, I can confidently assert that my family and I take our meatballs seriously.

When we have them for dinner, they are typically part of a Sunday Gravy, swimming around in thick red sauce along with their pals: sausage, spare ribs and braciole.

Or it’s a Tuesday night, and I’m quickly forming meatballs out of ground turkey, minced garlic, breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese (get full recipe here) and baking them in the oven to pull a quick, protein-packed, family-friendly supper together.

I’ve never really been a fan of the frozen, pre-made types that come in a giant zip bag from the supermarket.

So when the folks at The Flying Meatballs pitched me to try out their frozen meatballs and other artisanal Italian food products, I was somewhat skeptical. Until I researched a bit further, and found that The Flying Meatballs were made in small batches, using prime cuts of meat that are butchered on premise, REALLY GOOD freshly grated Italian cheese, and even bread that they bake specifically for the breadcrumbs in their meat mixture. Round this out with the fact that they’re actually manufactured in Northern New Jersey by an Italian family who run a restaurant (Natale Grande & The Grande Family of Il Capriccio Restaurant in Whippany, NJ) and I was onboard with trying them out.

Golly, am I glad that I did.

I had the chance to sample 2 varietals: the 100% All Natural Beef and the 100% Premium Turkey, along with imported pasta and Vacche Rosse Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and shared the meals I made (or rather, heated up) with my family.

Both meatballs were a HOME RUN with my entire family. My dad enjoyed them (and my dad can make a MEAN meatball). My husband enjoyed them. And my 4 ½ year old son devoured them.

For $15, you get a plastic tray of 6 baseball-size frozen meatballs and sauce, enough to feed 4-6 people. You can purchase them locally throughout New Jersey in stores like Kings Food Market (they’re in the deli/prepared food section), Balducci’s Food Lover’s Market and you’ll even catch them aboard Amtak’s Lounge Cars in the café.

The rest of the country can buy them online at www.TheFlyingMeatballs.com.

You can’t cook these meatballs from frozen. You have to either let them safely thaw in-package, overnight in your fridge or pop them into the microwave on the defrost cycle before thoroughly reheating them in the oven/stove top/microwave. I was a little confused by this at first, because they don’t exactly tell you how to thaw them out on the package directions.

I heated mine up on 2 separate occasions, in 2 different ways. First, defrosted overnight and then heated up in oven. And then on another night, defrosted in microwave and heated up on stovetop – both methods produced a consistently delicious outcome. AND – there really is enough sauce to accompany your pasta that will likely be served alongside The Flying Meatballs.

 

There’s this great mission statement on the back of The Flying Meatballs packaging that speaks about “giving you peace of mind, knowing that what you are eating comes from great sources and is made by good people who care. Always Honest. Always Delicious.” And I know this may sound silly, but you can really TASTE this mission in their products. The meatballs taste REAL – like my aunt made them – and not chemically-treated, freezer burnt. And for that reason, I’m willing to pay $15 for a tray of them for those off-nights I’m not ready to make meatballs from scratch.

For more info and to check out their full product offering, visit The Flying Meatballs at http://www.TheFlyingMeatballs.com

 

oxox

-mom a la mode

 

{I received samples of The Flying Meatballs for review purposes only.  All opinions expressed here solely mine.}